Category Archives: Africa

Africa, Developing World Connections, Grace Rwanda, Rwanda, Travel, Volunteering

Kigali, Rwanda (December 2016)

In December, our team worked on a project with Grace Rwanda, sponsored by Developing World Connections. We made over 2,500 cinder blocks, installed a new library, built a guard house and had countless adventures! Thanks to a great, flexible and motivated group of volunteers who made this trip a success.

Building Educational or Community Facilities

Grace Rwanda has initiated and completed several successful sustainable community development and literacy projects since their founding in 2009. To date, they’ve built eight new classrooms for Rwinkwavu School in the Kayonza District, plus 16 latrines, a kitchen and a garden with livestock. The multi-year project was completed in 2012 and serves 1,500 students.

Volunteers on this trip were tasked construction work on one hectare of land at the site of Grace Rwanda’s headquarters on Gisozi Hill, five minutes from the Kigali National Genocide Memorial. The project will take several years and stages, and is currently at the point of having the architectural site drafts finalized. When complete, the site will include a community hall for training librarians and promoting education and social enterprise, and ecolodge for volunteers and staff as well as offices for Grace Rwanda.

In 2011, Grace Rwanda created six mini-libraries of 500 books and 250 dictionaries in rural Rwandan schools, providing more than 3,000 children access to books. In 2013, Grace Rwanda created a community library in a youth centre in Muhanga, the first of 21 planned regional youth libraries. Grace Rwanda’s priority is to supply books to youth in the Muhanga District. Muhanga of Rwanda is a rural, agricultural district of 350,000 citizens including 87,000 students. Resources and books are scarce. Three times a year, Grace Rwanda distributes books, installs new libraries and checks in on past projects.

About Rwanda

Rwanda is a tiny country in the heart of Africa, fractionally south of the equator. The population of Rwanda is 10 million people – the densest population in continental Africa. The vast majority of Rwandans engage in subsistence agriculture. Rwanda is beautiful, lush, fertile and hilly – it is known as the Land of a Thousand Hills.

Africa, Habitat for Humanity, Travel, Volunteering, Zambia

The Joy of Coloring

January 5, 2016 Tricia's Travels 1 Comment

Coloring and drawing are some of the first ways children express themselves. It’s fun, easy, and even if initial attempts are not much more than scribbling, there is no denying that creativity and imagination are developing! You can find all kinds of articles and charts about when your child should start coloring if that’s your thing…. And of course even in such a seemingly simple pleasure there can be controversy about the importance and benefits of this activity.

But really….isn’t it just fun?

Lately, even adults have gotten in on the act. Adult coloring books were one of the “it” gifts for Christmas 2015 and the #grownupcoloring hastag is popular on lots of social media outlets (Pinterest , Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, and more). Adult coloring centers are opening at libraries and many workplaces offer coloring stations in their break areas. I even was seated next to a passenger on a recent flight who was getting in on the action.Adult coloring has been touted as a stress reliever but of course this comes with more controversy… “Are adult coloring books the stress relief tool they’re hyped up to be?” You can decide for yourself. But I digress.

On a recent volunteer trip to Zambia with Habitat for Humanity’s Global Village Program, I witnessed the joy of coloring first hand. During my stay I spent one week living with 13 other volunteers in a very poor (by monetary standards only!) rural community. The children were naturally curious about the foreigners who were visiting for the week and our house was a mob scene every day – in the best of ways. 🙂 We were escorted to and from meals and work by hoardes of children who wanted nothing more than to hold our hands and practice their English. And each night when we came home, there were many curious eyes watching our every move.

One night, we had a surprise for them – coloring books! We brought them out and immediately the joyful ball tossing, jump roping, chasing and laughing stopped. Silence descended on us all and eager eyes were glued to the prize.

Because of the large number of kids, we needed a system. We literally drew a line in the sand in our yard and asked them all to line up, which they did quickly and efficiently .:-)

Next they were asked to choose a “Spiderman” or “Animal” and one coloring book page was given to each child. Nobody ran off. Still standing perfectly still in line… A few milled planks were in the yard and served as a table for the kids. We distributed a few crayons and let them have at it!

The result was a bunch of happy kids as well as a group of amazed adults. I guess coloring really is for everyone. 🙂

Africa, Developing World Connections, Rwanda, Travel, Volunteering

Gashora, Rwanda (February 2014)

Oh, Rwanda. This country holds a special place in my heart and it was an exciting moment when I found that I could volunteer with Developing World Connections in this beautiful place! So happy. <3

I spent two weeks in the community of Gashora continuing work building The COVAGA Community Center, a project that at the time was supported by Building Bridges with Rwanda. The center will ultimately serve as a gathering place for the community with a library, a restaurant, and a weaving center where women make and sell their crafts. You can read more about COVAGA here (it’s so nice to see the faces of these women again!).

Our two weeks in Rwanda brought many special stories that will all be shared in due course. The delightful smiles of the children, the honest conversations about genocide, the beautiful wildlife, the hopeful eyes to the future…they combine to create a special atmosphere.

For now, a few of the moments captured below. 🙂